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Financial Services UK
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May 07, 2024
Businessman Asks Top Court To Block £19M UAE Debt Claim
A businessman's family took its fight with a UAE bank to Britain's highest court Tuesday over an alleged £19 million ($24 million) debt, arguing that the lender should not be allowed to collect on debts he says are illegitimate and a result of fraud.
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May 07, 2024
Pension Schemes Weigh Halting Employer Contributions
Sustained improvements in funding levels for private sector pensions in the U.K. means that many defined benefit schemes are considering stopping contributions from sponsors to avoid overfunding, PwC has said.
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May 07, 2024
EU Watchdog Mulls Opening Funds To Riskier Investments
The European Union's markets watchdog called Tuesday for market views on whether to expand the range of assets in which the most widely used type of investment fund can legally invest, to include crypto-assets as well as risky shares and bonds.
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May 07, 2024
FCA Bans Investment Firm's Ex-CEO For Misleading Clients
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined the former chief executive of a London-based investment firm for misleading clients about cash held by the group and handed him a ban, according to a statement published Tuesday.
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May 07, 2024
PwC, EY Hit With Fines Over LC&F Audit Failures
The Financial Reporting Council said Tuesday that it has handed out fines totaling approximately £10 million ($12.5 million) to PwC, EY and a third accounting firm for failures during audits they carried out on London Capital & Finance before the investment company's high-profile collapse.
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May 03, 2024
HMRC Director Rejoins KPMG To Boost Tax Dispute Offering
A former deputy director at HM Revenue & Customs has returned to KPMG as director of KPMG Law's tax disputes teams, the firm has announced.
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May 03, 2024
SRA Warns Law Firms On Improper Practices In Mass Claims
The Solicitors Regulation Authority voiced concerns on Friday about law firms and legal professionals that handle mass claims involving financial services or products, saying that some are running up costs before they have even been instructed to act.
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May 03, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen rapper Ivorian Doll hit with a copyright claim, private members club Aspinalls file a claim against a Saudi sheikh, and Motorola Solutions file a claim against the British government on the heels of its dispute over losing a £400 million ($502 million) government contract. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 03, 2024
EU Regulators To Report AML Suspects To Central Database
The European Union's banking watchdog has said that national regulators can start reporting information on named individuals to the bloc's centralized anti-money laundering database from May, in a step further strengthening the fight against financial crime.
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May 03, 2024
Pensions Watchdog Targets More Scheme Consolidation
The Pensions Regulator detailed on Friday 22 "priority outcomes" that will drive its work for the next three years, with policies reflecting its vision of "fewer, larger schemes" in the market, which a trade body described as ambitious.
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May 03, 2024
Frasers Group Drops €50M Case Against Morgan Stanley
Retail giant Frasers Group PLC has withdrawn its €50 million ($54 million) legal claim in London against Morgan Stanley over a margin call of almost $1 billion on Hugo Boss stock options, the bank said Friday.
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May 03, 2024
Reed Smith Steers £136M Pension Deal For Savings Plan
Insurer Just Group has taken on £136.3 million ($171.2 million) in liabilities from a retirement savings plan, advisers said, in a transaction steered by Reed Smith LLP.
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May 03, 2024
Financial Adviser Convicted In Axiom Legal Fund Fraud Case
A former financial adviser was convicted on Friday of siphoning £5.8 million ($7.3 million) from an investment fund using secret commission payments as part of a legal financing fraud.
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May 02, 2024
Whistleblower Claims Would 'Destroy' Autonomy, GC Was Told
Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in the criminal fraud trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that the company's chief operating officer didn't want a whistleblower's claims to get into court, telling him that while the "law" was on their side, "the facts look bad" and would "destroy Autonomy."
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May 02, 2024
HMRC Asked To Investigate Firm On Dodging Sanctions
HM Revenue & Customs should investigate a German-owned garage door manufacturer for violating sanctions by importing products from Belarus into the U.K., but instead authorities brushed off the case and now the company might receive a license, a U.K. lawmaker said.
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May 02, 2024
Mastercard Appeals Jurisdiction Ruling In £10B Class Action
Mastercard argued to a London appellate court Thursday that a £10 billion ($12.5 billion) class action over its swipe fees should be governed by the law of the jurisdiction covering the bank that processed the payment, rather than the jurisdiction of the customers who suffered the loss.
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May 02, 2024
BofA Beats Whistleblower Claim Without Settlement Defense
An employment judge has ruled a whistleblower working for Bank of America did not breach the terms of a settlement when he brought fresh litigation against the bank — but still dismissed his claims for filing them too late.
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May 02, 2024
Financial Watchdog Boss Summoned Over Plan To ID Targets
The head of the Financial Conduct Authority has been summoned to explain to lawmakers why he has not responded to their request to pause the watchdog's controversial plan to name the firms it probes amid mounting criticism that doing so could harm those later found innocent.
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May 02, 2024
Europol Helps Bust 12 Fraudulent Call Centers
Police have raided 12 call centers in several countries for making thousands of investment scam calls and other telephone fraud, Europol said Thursday, as the agency revealed the cost to victims could have been more than €10 million ($10.7 million.
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May 02, 2024
ING Kicks Off €2.5B Share Buyback With Q1 Results
Dutch multinational bank ING said Thursday that it will buy back up to €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) of its shares to streamline its capital-to-stock ratio, as it announced strong financial results for the first quarter of the year.
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May 02, 2024
UK Unveils Post-Brexit Rules For Overseas Investment
The government has published a roadmap that sets out rules to make it easier for investment funds in the European Union to offer products to investors in the U.K., replacing transitional arrangements put in place after Brexit.
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May 01, 2024
Autonomy CEO's Atty Says Judge 'One-Sided' Against Client
A Steptoe LLP partner representing former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch in his criminal fraud jury trial accused the judge overseeing the case of making comments to the jury that are "one-sided" in a way that prejudices the defense.
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May 01, 2024
FCA Opposes Paying Ex-Julius Baer Manager's Legal Costs
The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority urged a London appellate court Wednesday to overturn a tribunal's decision to make it pay part of a former Julius Baer employee's legal costs, saying the tribunal unfairly ruled that the FCA had unreasonably not called witnesses who were overseas.
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May 01, 2024
BBVA Makes €12B Offer For TSB Parent Sabadell
Banking giant BBVA on Wednesday said it has proposed to buy Banco de Sabadell for approximately €12 billion ($12.8 billion) in an all-share deal to create one of Europe's largest financial bodies with more than €1 trillion in assets.
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May 01, 2024
UK Banks Received Over £9B In Interest On BoE Reserves
The Treasury Committee published new data Wednesday showing that Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander made more than £9 billion ($11.2 billion) in interest on Bank of England reserves from 2022 to 2023.
Expert Analysis
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Comparing The UK And EU Approaches To AI Regulation
While there are significant points of convergence between the recently published U.K. approach to artificial intelligence regulation and the EU AI Act, there is also notable divergence between them, and it appears that the U.K. will remain a less regulatory environment for AI in the foreseeable future, say lawyers at Steptoe.
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Lessons On Using 3rd-Party Disclosure Orders In Fraud Cases
The expansion of the gateway for service out of jurisdiction regarding third-party information orders has proven to be an effective tool against fraud since it was introduced in 2022, and recent case law offers practical tips on what applicants should be aware of when submitting such orders, says Rosie Wild at Cooke Young.
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A Look At The Latest EU Alternative Investment Regulation
Recent amendments to the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive governing a range of alternative investment funds reflect a growing regulatory focus on nonbanking financial institutions, which expand credit to support economic growth but carry a commensurate risk, say Juliette Mills and Alix Prentice at Cadwalader.
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Unpacking The Law Commission's Digital Assets Consultation
The Law Commission recently published a consultation on recognizing a third personal property category to accommodate the development of digital assets, highlighting difficulties with current models of property rights and the potential consequences of considering digital assets as personal property, say Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP.
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Unpacking The FCA's Approach To AML Compliance Failures
In light of the upward trend of skilled-person reviews by the Financial Conduct Authority, including the latest investigation into Lloyds' anti-money laundering controls, financial firms should familiarize themselves with the mechanisms of FCA supervision and enforcement investigations, says Kathryn Westmore at RUSI.
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New Russia Sanctions Reveal Int'l Enforcement Capabilities
Significant new U.K., U.S. and EU sanctions imposed on Russia notably target Europe-based individuals and entities accused of sanctions evasion, and with an apparent political will to enhance capabilities, the rhetoric is translating into international enforcement activity, say lawyers at Cadwalader.
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What COVID Payout Ruling Means For Lockdown Loss Claims
While the High Court's recent COVID-19 payout decision in Gatwick v. Liberty Mutual, holding that pandemic-related regulations trigger prevention of access clauses, will likely lead to insurers accepting more business interruption claims, there are still evidentiary challenges and issues regarding policy limits and furlough, say Josianne El Antoury and Greg Lascelles at Covington.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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EEA Equivalence Statement Is Welcomed By Fund Managers
The recent statement confirming European Economic Area equivalence to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities for U.K. overseas funds regime purposes removes many managers’ concerns in the wake of Brexit, giving a clear pathway out of temporary marketing permissions and easing the transition from one regime to another, says Catherine Weeks at Simmons & Simmons.
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In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law
A trilogy of recent cases in the English High Court and Court of Appeal highlight the importance of parties agreeing to explicit choice of law language at the outset of an arbitration agreement in order to avoid costly legal skirmishes down the road, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker.
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Crypto As A Coin Of The Corporate Realm: The Pros And Cons
The broadened range of crypto-assets opens up new possibilities for employers looking to recruit, incentivize and retain employees through the use of crypto, but certain risks must be addressed, say Dan Sharman and Sunny Mangatt at Shoosmiths.
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Comparing UK And EU's View On 3rd-Party Service Providers
The U.K. is taking welcome steps to address the lack of direct oversight over critical third-party service providers, and although less onerous than that of the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, the U.K. regime's proportionate approach is designed to make providers more robust and reliable, say lawyers at Shearman.
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Key Points Of BoE Response To Digital Pound Consultation
Lawyers at Hogan Lovells analyze the recent Bank of England and U.K. government response to a consultation on the launch of a digital pound, finding that the phased approach to evaluating the issues makes sense given the significant potential impact on the U.K. economy.
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Goldman Prosecution Delivers A Clear Sign Of FCA Strength
The recent successful prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs analyst for insider dealing and fraud is a reminder to regulated individuals that economic crime will never be tolerated, and that the Financial Conduct Authority is willing to bare its teeth in the exercise of its prosecutorial remit, says Doug Cherry at Fladgate.
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The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime
Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.